What is FOSS?

FOSS is an acroymn which refers to Free and Open Source Software. It does not mean software is free of cost. It means that source code of the software is open for all and anyone is free to use, study and modify the code.

Why to use FOSS?

The main reason to use FOSS is that you can have the control over the software as the source code is open for all. Since, the source code is open for all we can check the source code and know if the software is safe to use or not.

Since, anyone can modify the code so there are many people working to fix the bugs. So, the bugs are fixed quicker and faster comes the updates modifying source code means allows us to learn from the source code of the software and in future create an even better one and this leads us to have similar software/application with better features.

There is one problem that open source software users might encounter is that when someone modifies the software and you upgrade it, the new source code can clash with your tweaks.

How do FOSS projects make money?

Many of them believe that open source projects do not make money. Many open source projects rely on donations to make money.There are ways to fund open-source programs but usually, you will find donation links on project websites. Making money with open source software may be difficult but it is possible.

The source code which is available is not understood by you but even if you do not understand the source code there are many out there with the necessary skills who use the software can understand the source code and can find out the pitfalls in the source code. We can say that open source has transparency.